The present invention relates generally to systems and methods of assembling a connector and, more particularly, relates to systems and methods of assembling a connector utilizing illumination of the cavities of the connector.
A connector is generally mounted upon the end portions of a plurality of conductors, such as optical fibers, electrically conductive wires or the like. The connector may then be mated with another connector to connect respective bundles of the conductors. Alternatively, the connector may be connected to a receptacle of an instrument or the like.
It is conventional for each connector to comprise a mating shell (suitably cylindrical in shape), which is mechanically connected to the shell of the other connector when the two connectors are brought into operative relationship. Each connector also includes a contact receiving insert. The insert is typically made of dielectric material and is in the form of a plate having an inner surface which confronts the corresponding insert of the other connector, and an opposite, outer surface which is parallel to the inner surface. Numerous holes penetrate this member, opening at their opposite ends at the inner and outer surfaces respectively of the insert.
In instances in which the conductor is a wire, the wire is prepared for attachment to the connector by stripping the dielectric sleeve from the end of the wire so as to expose the conductive core, and crimping a contact onto the conductor. This contact may be in the form of a pin or a receptacle. The contact is introduced into a hole in the aforementioned insert by way of the outer surface thereof and, in the case of a pin, projects beyond the inner surface of the insert. When all the wires have been attached to respective connectors and the connectors are brought into mating relationship, the contacts that are received in the holes of one insert are physically engaged by the contacts that are received in the holes of the other insert. Thus, the connectors typically do not have pins or receptacles other than those that are physically attached to the wires before introduction into the holes of the insulating insert.
When attaching a bundle or breakout of conductors from a wiring harness or the like to a connector, it is necessary to insure that the conductors are located in the proper holes of the insert, since otherwise the proper circuits will not be completed when the connector is coupled to its mating connector. One method of insuring that the contacts are positioned in the proper holes involves the use of a plug map. Each hole in the insert is numbered and each conductor carries at its end a label or tag which bears an identifying number for the conductor. (It will be understood that the term xe2x80x9cnumber,xe2x80x9d when used to identify a hole or a conductor, is not restricted to a numerical designation but may also include letter designations and mixed alphanumeric designations. The xe2x80x9cnumberxe2x80x9d may be encoded, e.g. on a bar code label.) The plug map correlates the conductor numbers with the hole numbers. The user selects a conductor for attachment to the connector, reads the conductor number, consults the plug map to find the number of the hole associated with the selected conductor, scans the plug to locate that hole, and inserts the contact of the selected conductor into the hole. Generally, the conductors are selected at random from the bundle that is to be assembled to the connector. Therefore, use of a plug map is subject to a disadvantage in that it involves carrying out a random search of the plug map for the conductor number and then searching the connector itself to find the corresponding hole. Consequently, attaching the conductors to the connector using a plug map in this manner is time consuming, and is subject to error, in that each conductor number may have six or more characters, and it is therefore easy to confuse the conductor numbers on the plug map. Moreover, even when the hole number has been found on the plug map, the density of holes on the connector itself might be such that it is easy to confuse one hole or aperture location for another.
In an automated robotic connector assembly machine, the operations of wire stripping, contact crimping and insertion are performed fully automatically. However, the wires must first be dressed into predetermined locations in a fixture. Therefore, this technique incurs a high cost while still involving manual labor.
Another technique for properly positioning conductors within a conductor is a cable scan system. In a cable scan system, the operator touches the contact of a selected wire to an electrode which receives a signal over the conductor. This signal represents the wire number in encoded form, and is decoded and applied to an electronic lookup table. The lookup table contains the plug map and provides the operator with the hole number without its being necessary for the operator to scan a plug map. However, this system is only applicable when the opposite end of the selected wire is connected to a signal source, i.e., has already been attached to its own connector, and does not relieve the operator of the burden of searching the insert plate for the hole having the number provided by the lookup table.
Several methods have been proposed for assisting in identifying the correct hole for receiving a particular conductor. U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,134 to Sweeney et al. addresses the problem of locating the correct hole number, particularly when the density of holes is high and the numbers imprinted on the connector are small. The connector is fitted over an array of optical fibers such that the fibers are positioned beneath respective holes. An input panel is also provided that constitutes an enlarged replica of the connector. The input panel includes a number of apertures, one corresponding to each hole of the connector. The optical fibers extend between the apertures in the panel and the corresponding holes in the connector. Therefore, when light is injected into an aperture of the panel, the light is transmitted by the respective optical fiber and emitted from the corresponding hole in the connector. The operator is then able to identify the holes by reference to the much larger panel, which facilitates correct identification of the holes. However, this does not relate to the difficulty associated with searching a plug map, and moreover because connectors may be quite long and the holes are quite narrow, it can be difficult to see which hole is in fact emitting light except by peering directly down the hole.
Another method is described by U.S. Pat. No. 3,932,931 to Wright, which discloses an apparatus for inserting posts into apertures in a circuit board. The circuit board is held in a horizontal plane over a vertically-disposed anvil assembly. The circuit board is movable in the horizontal plane relative to the anvil assembly. Above the circuit board and vertically aligned with the anvil assembly is a post insertion machine. In order to aid in proper positioning of the board for insertion of a post by the post insertion machine, a light source is mounted to direct a beam of light downwardly towards the anvil assembly. The anvil assembly comprises a necked housing in which an anvil finger is slidingly fitted. The finger is biased upwardly to project beyond the necked housing. When the board is properly positioned, the anvil finger enters a post receiving aperture of the circuit board. A visual indication that the circuit board is properly positioned with an aperture axially aligned with the post insertion machine and the anvil assembly is provided by reflection of light from the top surface of the anvil finger.
According to yet another method, described by U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,637 to Buckwitz et al., a workstation is provided that includes an adapter plate compatible with a connector, and the connector is coupled to the adapter plate. To fit a contact attached to a wire within a hole of a connector, the wire to which the contact is attached is first identified. The location of the hole that is to receive the contact is determined automatically from an electronic data lookup table. A signal is then provided to position an end portion of a fiber optic rod in line with the correct hole of the connector, where the opposite end of the fiber optic rod is optically coupled to a source of light. The end portion of the fiber optic rod is positioned by moving the rod in line with the correct hole, such as by a servo-motor. The fiber optic rod can then be advanced so that it enters the hole and projects from the opposite side of the connector identifying the correct hole. As such, light emitted from the fiber optic rod can facilitate visual identification of the hole from which the rod is projecting. Thereafter, the fiber optic rod is retracted, and the contact is inserted into the hole. Other methods employing light sources for guiding placement of components are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,611,544 to Frels et al; U.S. Pat. No. 3,731,363 to Hall et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,936 to Schlup et al.
While various methods for assisting in the placement of conductors within a connector have been provided, each method suffers from one or more shortcomings. For example, the apparatuses described by U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,134 to Sweeney et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 3,932,931 to Wright require somewhat complex devices to locate the holes in the connector. As such, it would be desirable to provide an improved system and method for facilitating the connectorization of a plurality of conductors, such as optical fibers, wires or the like.
In light of the foregoing background, the present invention provides an improved system and method of assembling a bundle of conductors into a connector that defines a plurality of cavities for receiving the conductors. Advantageously, the system and method of embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus that includes a plurality of mating connectors. As such, the system and method of embodiments of the present invention do not require adaptors such that the apparatus can be configured for connectors of different types. Also, the mating connectors include cavities that are optically coupled to a plurality of light emitting elements to thereby provide for selective illumination of the cavities.
As the cavities are optically coupled to a plurality of light emitting elements, the system and method do not require any moving parts, such as a servo-motor, to selectively illuminate the cavities. Further, the system and method of embodiments of the present invention can display an indication of the cavity of the connector being illuminated. Thus, the system can facilitate assembling the bundle by not only illuminating the cavities of the connector, but by also providing a displayed indication of the cavities as the cavities are plugged with respective conductors from the bundle.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a system is provided for facilitating the assembly of a bundle of conductors into a connector that includes a plurality of cavities for receiving the conductors. The system includes an apparatus that has a plurality of mating connectors that each include a plurality of cavities. In this regard, the connector is capable of being removably coupled to one of the mating connectors such that coupling the connector to the mating connector optically couples the cavities of the mating connector with the cavities of the connector.
The mating connectors can include at least one plug mating connector and at least one receptacle mating connector. The connector, then, is selected from either a plug connector or a receptacle connector. As such, the plug mating connector is capable of being removably coupled to a receptacle connector, and the receptacle mating connector is capable of being removably coupled to a plug connector. Also, for example, the mating connectors can include at least two connectors of different types, wherein the connector is capable of being removably coupled to the mating connector of the same type as the connector.
The apparatus also includes a plurality of light emitting elements optically coupled to the cavities of the mating connectors, such as via a plurality of optical fibers. By optically coupling the light emitting elements to the cavities, the light emitting elements are capable of selectively illuminating at least one of the cavities of the mating connectors. To control the light emitting elements, the system includes a processing element. More particularly, the processing element is adapted to receive a selection of a conductor and thereafter control the light emitting elements to selectively illuminate a corresponding cavity of one of the mating connectors. Illuminating the cavities of the connector, in turn, facilitates plugging at least one associated conductor into the at least one illuminated cavity of the connector.
To further facilitate plugging the conductors into the cavities, the processing element can drive a display capable of indicating the at least one cavity being illuminated. For example, the display can be capable of displaying a graphical representation of the connector including the cavities and indicating the at least one cavity being illuminated. Additionally, the display can be further capable of indicating at least one cavity including a previously plugged conductor and/or at least one cavity including a filler plug. In addition to presenting the graphical representation of the connector, the display can also present a listing of the conductors and associated cavities of the connector such that the processing element can receive the selection from the listing. And prior to displaying the listing, the processing element can receive an identification of the bundle of conductors and thereafter display the listing of conductors and associated cavities based upon the identified bundle.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for assembling a bundle of conductors into a connector that includes a plurality of cavities for receiving the conductors.